Increases focus on battle for backup spot at defensive tackle

BOURBONNAIS — Stephen Paea is expected to miss a week or two as he recovers from a sprained left ankle, and that could increase the focus on a crowded battle for a backup position at defensive tackle.

Paea, a second-round draft pick last season, had passed Matt Toeaina on the depth chart for the starting nose tackle job. Now, he'll have to bide his time as he recovers from an injury suffered in practice Saturday. He watched from the sideline while wearing a walking boot on Sunday.

After arthroscopic knee surgery in January, Paea was much more athletic and had been one of the bright spots in training camp.

"It sucks to go back and start over again, but we'll see," he said about having to recapture the starting job. "It's competition every day. As far as I see it, I come back and I have to compete for it again."

The bottom of the depth chart is crowded at tackle. Nate Collins, John McCargo, Jordan Miller and DeMario Pressley, who remains sidelined with a foot/ankle injury, are in the mix for what appears to be one roster spot. Brian Price, acquired from the Buccaneers in a trade, also is in the mix. He left practice with a stinger Sunday, but coach Lovie Smith said it wasn't serious.

Collins had a sack in the exhibition opener against the Broncos and showed up while getting a heavy workload with 37 snaps. The Bears had interest in Collins when he came out of Virginia in 2010, bringing him in for a predraft visit. He wound up bouncing around from the Giants to the Jaguars.

"When you start trying to figure who is here and who already has a spot, you really never know what they are thinking in the top office," he said. "What I can control is having good tape."

Collins must serve a one-game suspension to start the season as a result of being caught with marijuana this offseason.

"I'm just trying to do everything I can so in the long run the suspension won't matter," he said. "Hopefully, by my play in the rest of camp and preseason, that's not a big issue for the Bears."

McCargo, a first-round pick of the Bills in 2006, knew it would be a numbers game.

"I looked at it like they were looking for one guy," he said. "We are all out there competing for that same job. I knew it was going to be multiple guys fighting for one position. I've got three weeks left to make some plays and get these coaches on my side. They look at practice real hard and what we're doing and how we're developing."

McCargo said he's working to show up more in pass-rushing situations. It's what the Bears are constantly seeking from linemen.

"If you can't pass rush, coach (Rod) Marinelli tells us all the time, you're not going to be on the team," McCargo said. "He wants to see us fighting for that spot."